Method of labeling a lid

ABSTRACT

A method of labeling a lid with heat transfer labels while said lid is apart from its container, the method including the steps of feeding a lid into a cutout of a transport means which will hold it upright on its end, providing a backing means with said transport means to engage an end of said lid, applying a heat transfer label to the lid apart from its container at a label application station, removing the lid apart from its container at a discharge station, reciprocating the transport means between stations and engaging the lid with said backing means to support it as it travels between said feed station and said label application station and disengaging said backing means after said label station but before said discharge station.

United States Patent i191 Wochner i451 oct. 29, i974 [73] Assignee: Dennison Manufacturing Company, Framingham, Mass.

[22] Filed: July l5, 1970 [2l] Appl. No.: 55,036

[52] U.S. Cl. 156/238, 156/542 [51] Int. C1. B44c 1/00 [58] Field of Search 156/300, 362, 423, 538, 156/540, 556, 569, 541, 542, 238, 566,484, DIG. 15, DIG. 2

[56] i References Cited I UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,751,103 6/1956 Scott 156/566 3,025,211 3/1962 Winn 156/542 3,231,448 l/l966 Flood 156/542 3,262,831 7/1966 Ziegler et al 156/556 3,567,551 3/1971 Dullinger 156/556 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 7,191 3/1913 Great Britain 156/DIG. 2

Primary Examiner-Charles E. Van I-Iorn Assistant Examiner-Basil J. Lewris Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Dike, Bronstein, Roberts, Cushman & Pfund [5 7] ABSTRACT A method of labeling a lid with heat transfer labels while said lid is apart from its container, the method including the steps of feeding a lid into a cutout of a transport means which will hold it upright on its end, providing a backing means with said transport means to engage an end of said lid, applying a heat transfer label to the lid apart from its container at a label application station, removing the lid apart from its container at a discharge station, reciprocating the transport means between stations and engaging the lid with said backing means to support it as it travels between said feed station and said label application station and disengaging said backing means after said label station but before said discharge station.

l Claim, 7 Drawing Figures qll | i l I l I l i I l J Siamese PAYNE am 29 aan .INVENTOR FRED J. WOCHNER FIG. 4

FIG. 5

INVENTOR FRED J. VVOCHNER BY l M97 gn/m y l ATT RN EYS l METHOD F LABELING A LID This invention is directed to a method for applying labels and is more particularly directed to a method for rapidly applying heat transfer labels to lids, tops, covers or the like and other substantially flat surfaced objects.

The prior art is replete with systems for applying labels, including heat transfer labels to bottles and containers, e.g., see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,064,714; 3,208,897; 3,261,734; 3,231,448; 3,313,667; 2,981,432; 3,126,309; and 3,036,624.

Although the systems disclosed in these patents are usable for labeling bottles or containers they are not suitable for applying labels, particularly heat transfer labels to lids, tops, covers, etc., (e.g. lids or tops for containers or bottles).

In the past such lids, tops or covers have been labeled by hand or machine with paper labels having adhesive on one side thereof. Other schemes for labeling lids, tops, covers or the like have also included printing or stamping techniques. With the use of printing or stamping techniques decorative multicolor labeling of lids, tops or covers have usually been limited to one or two colors.

ln view of the foregoing, a new and improved method has been developed as disclosed herein for permitting heat transfer labels to be applied to container lids, tops, covers or the like having substantially flat surfaces.

This has been accomplished by providing a labeling system which is adapted to feed the lids, tops or covers to a carriage transport or support means which moves between a plurality of positions. At one position the transport means is adapted to receive the lids, tops or covers, at a second position the transport means is adapted to position the lids, tops or covers at a decorating station and hold it there so that a label can be applied thereto, and at a third position the transport means is positioned to permit the lids, tops or covers to be discharged therefrom.

In view of the foregoing it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved method for applying heat transfer labels to a flat surfaced object such as a lid, top or cover.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a new and improved method for rapidly feeding lids or the like to a labeler so that labels can be transferred from a carrier onto the surface to be decorated.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which;

FIG. l is a top view of a lid or the like to be labeled as described herein;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a top diagrammatic view of the apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a top view with certain parts removed showing the operating parts of the apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the carriage or transport according to the invention;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

The particular embodiment of the invention as illustrated in FIGS. 1-7 is especially adapted to transport labels from a strip to a container lid, top, cover or the like having a substantially flat surface to apply a label thereto. While any heat transfer label strip may be employed, the strip is preferably made as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,862,832. As illustrated in FIG. l of the patent the label strip comprises a paper backing having a marginal row of sprocket holes, the backing being coated with oxidized wax adhesively to hold the labels thereon. The wax coating is heat activatable so that when a label is pressed against a bottle or other article by means engaging the back of the strip the label is transferred from the strip to the article.

Reference should now be had to FIGS. 1 and 2 which show a typical lid to be labeled by the apparatus of this invention. The lid is generally shown at l0 and can be of plastic or cardboard or other like materials conventionally used as lids, tops, covers of containers, bottles or the like. The lid l0 comprises a top substantially flat surface 11, a lid end shown at l2, a lid bottom 12a and a lid downward projecting member shown at 13 for permitting a container side wall to enter between the lid end 12 and the member 13 so as to be retained therein. As may be noted from FIGS. l and 2 the end 12 of the lid l0 slopes slightly such that a good friction fit can be obtained between a container top and the lid end 12 and the member 13.

Reference should now be had to FIGS. 3-7 which more particularly show the features of this invention. The apparatus comprises a main frame 20 for supporting guide members shown at 21 and 22 in which a carriage or transport 24 is adapted to move or reciprocate back and forth therein. The carriage 24 is adapted to move between a plurality of positions so as to carry a lid from a receiving or a feed position to a position where the lid may be labeled, and thence to a position where the lid may be discharged from the carriage or transport onto a belt or the like.

FIGS. 6 and 7 more particularly show the construction of the carriage 24. The carriage 24 includes a cutout shown at 25 which isiadapted to support and hold the container lid therein on its end and move it between the aforementioned positions. The cutout 25 is preferably open at the top so that a lid may be dropped therein, and preferably is shaped so that it has a portion 25a shaped to conform to the shape of the lid end 12. The cutout is preferably tapered as shown in FIG. 7 at 25b to conform to the slope of the lid end l2. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 the cutout opening 25a is narrower closest to the label applicator (to be described). The cutout is wider at the back end thereof, that is the portion of the transport furthest from the applicator. The transport also includes a pin shown at 27 which extends outwardly therefrom, (its function to be later described), and a second cutout shown at 28 for support-- ing a pawl feeder (also to be described).

Positioned on and supported by the carrier is a rack 29 which is utilized to move the carriage 24 and reciprocate or slide it between the aforementioned positions. In order to move the carriage back and forth, there is provided a gear 30 which mates with the rack 29 positioned on the carriage and which is driven by second gear 3l. The second gear 3l is in turn rotated by a rack shown at 32 mounted on a rod 33 which is in turn coupled to members 34 and 35 which are driven by a drive motor 36 for operating the labeling apparatus of this invention. In this manner the rack 29 is reciprocated as the members 32, 33, 34 and 35 move backward and forward as shown by the arrows to position the carriage 24 at the aforementioned positions.l

At 40 there is provided a backing plate which is adapted to slide along the bottom of the guide slot formed by the members 21 and 22 and by the bottom member 41. The backing plate is preferably of a hard plastic material such as teflon or could also be metal. The backing plate 40 is adapted to move with the carriage 24 for a portion of its motion to provide a means of supporting the bottom of the lid shown at 12a. The backing member prevents the lid from moving backward and out of the cutout during the feeding and labeling application steps of this invention.

The backing plate 40 slides along the member 41 and has tips 42 for engaging the member 4l. The backing plate is also provided with a guide slot shown at 43 in which the pin 27 of the carriage is adapted to slide. In order to move the backing plate 40 therewith, the carriage is provided with a pawl feeder shown at 45 along with a cutout 46 at one end thereof which is supported on a pin 47 extending through the cutout 28 of the carriage. The pawl feeder is spring loaded by a spring shown at 48 which is coupled to a pin 50 also supported by the carriage 34. In this manner the pawl feeder is spring loaded as shown at the right of FIG. 4 in order t to carry the backing plate 40 therewith as it moves to the left of FIGS. 3 and 5. As also may be seen in FIG. 4 the guide member 22 extends in a manner such that it provides support for the backing plate when the carriage and the lid supported therein is in position for applying the label to the lid. 1

In order to provide lids to the carriage cutout 25 there is provided a lid feed apparatus shown generally at 60 which is essentially a slotted member in which lids can be fed (vertically) so as to permit a lid to be dropped into the cutout when the cutout is positioned under the feeder. The lids can be fed to the feeder 60 by a belt arrangement such as shown at 61 in FIG. 3 or by hand. The lids will stack ontheir ends, one on top of the other, and only be fed out when the cutout is under the feeder 60. Once the lid has been dropped into the cutout 25 the top wall 24a of the carriage will prevent any further lids from dropping down out of the feeder 60. Other conventional feed systems can be utilized as long as they provide lids to the carriage cutout such that the lid would be supported on its end.

In order to apply a label to the lid there is provided and shown generally at 70 the conventional application device such as utilized in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,064,714, 3,208,897` and the others cited at the beginning of the specification. Preferably the type of label application means is the one currently used, Model TB- l B Applicator System and sold by the Dennison Manufacturing Company of Framingham, Massachusetts.

In its preferred form the application means 70 comprises diagrammatically as shown in FIG. 4, a feed reel 7l, take up reel 72, dancer rolls shown at 73 and 74, idler rolls 75 and 76, shuttle rolls 77 and 78, a metering roll shown at 79 and a further idler roll shown at 80. At 8l there is shown a label preheater. At 82 there is shown a platen, and at 84 there is shown a rubber roll 83 supported by the platen applying a label carried by a strip shown at 84 to the lid. The platen is operated by a platen cam shown at 85 which is mounted for rotation and which is driven by the main drive motor of the machine shown at FIG. 3.

In addition, the feed reel and the take up reel are also driven by the drive motor of the machine. In this invention, as in the previously mentioned patents` the label strip is fed by the label pre-heater and is heated for a period of time. The strip then moves past the rubber roll and platen and is pressed onto the top of the substantially flat surface of the lid.

After the label has been applied to the lid the carriage 24 moves to a position such that the lid may be discharged onto a conveyor system or the like. This is more particularly shown at FIG. 3 wherein a belt type conveyor is shown at to carry a lid away from the carriage.

To facilitate the discharge of the lid from the carriage, mechanical devices (pushers) may be provided to engage the lid and shove it out of the carriage or preferably, in the alternative, gas (air) may be discharged by the provision of a nozzle at 91 coupled to gas (air) source at 92 spraying the gas against the lid to force the lid out of the carriage onto the conveyor 90.

Briefly the operation of the device shown in this application is as follows: a lid 10 which is in position drops into the cutout 25 of the transport 24. The lid is received within the carriage cutout and is then movedto theleft and positioned as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 by the drive' mechanism. The backing plate 40 is carried with the carriage 24 by the pawl feeder as it engages the end of the backing plate 40 (shown in FIG. 4). When both the carriage and the backing plate are in position to permit a label to beapplied thereto, a label is applied -by the labeling applicator shown at 70. After a label has been applied, the drive mechanism then causes the transport to' continue moving to the left of FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 into position to discharge the lid therefrom onto the conveyor.

During the discharge step, the backing plate moves slightly until it engages a stop member shown at 95 and thereafter the pin 27 moves within the slot 43 of the backing member such that the cutout 25 clears the end of the backing plate as well as'the guide 22. In addition, during the discharge step the feed pawl 45 is raised over the end of the backing plate 40 and slides upon the backing plate by the actionof a camming surface2la provided by guide 2l.

At this time the lid is discharged by the application of air against it and falls on the belt shown at 90a. On the return stroke, the carriage 24 moves to the right of FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, and carries the backing plate 40 with it as the pin 27 engages the right hand end of the slot 43 as shown in FIG. 5.

On the return stroke the pawl feeder is released when it clears the camming surface 21a and rotates to engage the end of the backing plate 40 and drops thereover. It should be understood that various types of drive mechanisms could be utilized to move the backing member as well as the carriage or transport back and forth. It should also be understood that the carriage could have a different configuration or could be cut out to accomodate different size articles to be labeled.

- The invention accordingly comprises the method of labeling lid, top, cover or the like by holding it upright on its ends and moving it between a plurality of positions so as to apply a label thereto.

lt will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description are efficiently attained and since certain changes may be made in carrying out the above method and in the construction set forth without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. lt is also understood that the following claims are intended to cover all the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

l claim:

l. A method for applying heat transfer labels to a lid which comprises the steps of l) feeding at a feed station a lid apart from its container to a transport means which includes a plate having a tapered cutout so that the lid rests in the cutout upright on its end with the top surface thereof in position for applying a label thereto at a label application station; (2) providing a backing means with said transport means to engage the end of the lid; (3) applying a heat transfer label to the top of the lid apart from its container at the label application station; (4) removing the lid apart from its container from the cutout at a discharge station; (5) reciprocating the transport means between said feed station, said application and said discharge station while maintaining the lid upright on its end within the cutout of said transport means; and (6) engaging the end of said lid with said backing means to support it as it travels between said feed station and said label application station and disengaging said backing means after said label station but before said discharge station.

* lt il# 

1. A method for applying heat transfer labels to a lid which comprises the steps of (1) feeding at a feed statioN a lid apart from its container to a transport means which includes a plate having a tapered cutout so that the lid rests in the cutout upright on its end with the top surface thereof in position for applying a label thereto at a label application station; (2) providing a backing means with said transport means to engage the end of the lid; (3) applying a heat transfer label to the top of the lid apart from its container at the label application station; (4) removing the lid apart from its container from the cutout at a discharge station; (5) reciprocating the transport means between said feed station, said application and said discharge station while maintaining the lid upright on its end within the cutout of said transport means; and (6) engaging the end of said lid with said backing means to support it as it travels between said feed station and said label application station and disengaging said backing means after said label station but before said discharge station. 